


i'm so human

by infinitefire



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Early Relationship Fluff, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Useful Lesbians, dimity drill is a shameless flirt, for both pairings, hecate and dimity are both gay and dramatic af, hecate and dimity are like bickering siblings and ada is their mother, hecate is very considerate of other people's emotions, julie hubble is a good mother, literally just fluff, mentions of past dimity/marigold, mildred ships it, she's still biased against mildred probably but she's trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 04:06:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17317775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitefire/pseuds/infinitefire
Summary: Hecate Hardbroom is adamant that using Parents' Night as an opportunity to find a date, as Dimity Drill appears to be doing, is most improper and unprofessional. However, Pippa Pentangle's daughter transfers to Cackle's the next year, and when a divorced Pippa Pentangle shows up on Parents' Night, Hecate might have to rethink her position.





	i'm so human

**Author's Note:**

> i’m trying to focus on writing a different fic that i’m currently having a lot of fun with (hicsqueak non-magical teachers au!!) but this just popped into my head and basically wrote itself?? i wrote this on like one hour of sleep so sorry for any mistakes. idk if it's even any good i'm so tired at this point asldsjfjkdfkl. also, this is mostly canon-compliant, so all the events of spelling bee and new dawn have happened, plus some extra off-screen flirting. title from “human” by dodie.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” says Julie, smiling proudly.

Mildred shakes her head, beaming. She would never have dared hope for such positive feedback from Miss Hardbroom—she was expecting more of a disdainful “careless girl, poor work habits” paired with an assortment of remarks about all the times Mildred nearly blew up the potions lab, or actually blew up the potions lab, but Miss Hardbroom surprised her with an “adequate work, when she tries” and a comment about her showing potential. Of course, these were thrown into a tirade about Mildred’s lack of focus and discipline, but Mildred can’t help but feel elated at the generous praise she just received from her potions teacher.

Julie reaches out to hug her daughter, and Mildred snuggles in enthusiastically. “Now, listen, Millie-love,” she says, tone suddenly turning serious. “Based on what Miss Hardbroom told me while you were waiting outside, part of why she’s being so encouraging now is because we found out some of our ancestors are witches, and I want you to know that that’s not fair, okay?”

Eyes wide, Mildred meets her mum’s gaze. She nods.

“That’s not to say you shouldn’t be excited about this feedback, ‘cause coming from Miss Hardbroom, it’s fantastic, and you absolutely deserve it. I know you’ve been working really hard this term, and it shows. I just want to make sure you realize that’s what you deserve to be recognized for. That and saving the school so many times. That’s what makes you important. That’s what makes you belong. Not some silly little thing like whether anyone else in your family has magic. Do you understand?”

It confuses her a bit, but Mildred understands at least that what her mum is saying must be important, even if she doesn’t quite understand why. “I think so,” she says.

“Alright. I’m proud of you, Millie-love.” Julie smiles and kisses her daughter’s forehead.

“Thanks, Mum,” says Mildred, smiling back.

“Who are we seeing next, then?”

“That’ll be Miss Drill.”

“Oh.”

Mildred looks questioningly at the strange blush that appears on her mum’s cheeks at the mention of her PE teacher. “What?”

“She’s the one I danced with at Halloween, right?”

“Umm … yeah. Why?”

Julie shakes her head to clear her thoughts. “Just wondering. Lead the way!”

Mildred skips off in the direction of Miss Drill’s office, smirking to herself. Her mum and Miss Drill. Miss Drill and her mum. She supposes she can see it. Her mum never dated anyone in Mildred’s life, at least as far as she can remember, but she knows some of her Ordinary friends’ parents dated other people, and it seemed to make some of them happy, so why not? Her mum deserves to be happy, and Miss Drill is pretty great. Plus, it might earn her some extra points in PE—though, Mildred thinks, she really shouldn’t get ahead of herself; besides, Miss Drill is by far the fairest teacher she has at Cackle’s and would never give points away to anyone for that sort of reason, not even Ethel Hallow.

* * *

“Julie Hubble.” Dimity holds out a hand.

“Miss Drill,” says Julie, returning the handshake. “You’re the first person I’ve met here who seems to know what a handshake is.”

“Spent a few years among Ordinary folk. I know how it goes. And please, call me Dimity,” Dimity responds with a bright smile and a wink.

“We met, didn’t we? At Halloween.”

“That we did. Although, we didn’t do much talking then.”

“You make it sound like we did something scandalous.”

Dimity chuckles. “Well, since I didn’t get a chance to say so then, it’s a good deal you showed up. We’d all have frozen over if it weren’t for you. Seems saving the day runs in the Hubble family.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. It’s Millie who saves the day; I just showed up for a hug when she needed one.”

“Ah, but who said that’s all you did to save the day? I, for one, can say that my day got considerably better after that dance.”

Julie looks down for a moment to hide her blush. Dimity smirks in triumph.

“Say, did we meet at Parents’ Night last year?” asks Julie, looking up. “I think I’d remember a face like yours.”

Dimity’s smile brightens even more at the comment. “Well, Ms. Hubble, I think I’d remember a face like yours as well, but I can’t seem to recall.”

“Please, Dimity. Call me Julie.”

“Well then, it’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Julie.”

“Likewise.”

* * *

“Hey.” A whisper and a tap on her shoulder catch Julie’s attention, and she turns around to find Dimity, smiling at her and looking at the ground. “Thought I’d catch you before you left,” she says shyly.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Mildred Hubble covers a smile as she watches the scene unfold.

“I, uh,” Dimity continues, bringing out a hand from behind her back to reveal a slip of paper between her fingers, “wanted to give you this. Shoddy reception up here, I’m afraid, but I managed to fix myself a landline—‘s a bit old-fashioned, like the one Miss Cackle has for emergencies, but it does the job, if you ever wanted to get in touch.” She meets Julie’s eyes with a hopeful grin, extending the piece of paper.

Julie returns the grin and takes the paper. “I think I’d like that,” she says.

Dimity beams. She gives Julie one last wink before walking off with purpose towards an empty corridor, only to do a little happy dance when she thinks no one is watching.

Hecate Hardbroom appears right behind her.

“Using Parents’ Night as a way to find dates is most unprofessional, Miss Drill.”

Dimity turns to face her, massive grin still on her face. “And I suppose you’d say the same about academic conferences, but that didn’t stop you from holding hands with Miss Pentangle every chance you got at that last one, did it?” she teases.

Hecate stiffens. “Flirting is perfectly acceptable in the environment of an academic conference,” she insists, “as both parties are there in their capacity as educators. Notice how I made no such remarks about your little _fling_ with Marigold earlier this year. But courting parents in the presence of their children is _quite_ different.”

Dimity lets out a snort. “I’m sorry— _courting_? I gave Julie Hubble my number.”

“That is a _modern_ indication of early courtship, is it not?” says Hecate with a raised eyebrow, voice dripping with no less distaste at the word “modern” than Dimity would have expected.

“You could call it that,” says Dimity, amused. “But it’s hardly a scandal.”

“Nevertheless,” drawls Hecate, “it would do you good to act with more responsibility and care. And I’ll be telling Miss Cackle about that landline.”

“Oh, please. Ada already knows.”

“Does she now?”

“‘Course she does. I helped set up hers. I could help hook you up with one, if you’d like.”

“Dimity Drill, that landline in Ada’s office has been there since long before you started teaching here. You can’t fool me that easily.”

“Oh, you wish I was fooling you. You forget, HB, that while you may have been teaching here longer, I’ve _been_ here longer, and while as a child I may not have been Star Of The Sky, I was certainly still a _star_.”

Hecate doesn’t have a response to that, so she merely transfers herself away with an overdramatic flick of the wrist.

* * *

**One Year Later**

“Pippa!” Hecate tenses at the unexpected sight of her old friend, but there’s the same soft smile on her face that’s recently appeared whenever Pippa speaks with her, and it melts her heart a little. “I– I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she admits, a little self-consciously, fidgeting with her watch a bit.

“Well, my daughter does attend this school, and it is Parents’ Night,” Pippa points out.

Hecate smiles. “Of course, only, I thought I would be seeing—”

“Melissa’s father?”

Hecate nods. “It’s not that I’m not pleased to see you,” she clarifies quickly, “it’s just that with your duties as Headmistress of Pentangle’s I thought you’d be too busy to—”

“What, to see my daughter and my best friend?” Pippa smiles, shakes her head.

“I– I didn’t mean—”

Pippa boldly walks right up to Hecate and silences hecate with a finger on her lips. “Shh, I know. Both Donovan and I have responsibilities that we’d gladly set aside to see Melissa, but she’s not entirely comfortable with the idea of Donovan and I together in the same room, especially with her, or discussing her, so it’s just me today.”

Hecate blushes furiously. “You’re a good mother, Pippa. Better than I could ever be,” she says, voice full of genuine emotion and a twinge of regret.

“Don’t say that about yourself, Hiccup.”

Hecate shakes her head. “We shouldn’t be talking about this. You’re here to talk about Melissa.”

Pippa laughs. “You’ve been giving me mirror call updates almost every week. I know she’s doing well—or as well as can be expected, given the circumstances, and we’ve spent plenty of time talking about ways to help her. I want to spend these few minutes with you. I so rarely get to see my best friend these days.”

“Alright,” says Hecate quietly, still blushing at their close proximity.

Pippa’s breath hitches as she meets the intensity of Hecate’s gaze. Gently, she brushes her fingers against the other woman’s cheek, leans a little closer. “Hecate,” she mutters, and Hecate leans in as well. “May I?”

Hecate closes the distance in response, gently pressing her lips to Pippa’s own. It’s soft and reverent and Pippa nearly cries at Hecate’s tenderness; she curls a hand into long dark hair and pulls Hecate in for a deeper kiss. Hecate hums and smiles into Pippa’s lips before pulling back. “Wait,” she says, and Pippa frowns. “Much as I want this”—she runs a hand along Pippa’s side to emphasize her point—“we should talk. Melissa—”

Pippa huffs. “You know, I really hoped you’d have figured out by now, I do enjoy your company when you’re not talking to me as my daughter’s teacher. Quite a bit, actually.”

“Pipsqueak.”

That catches Pippa’s attention.

“With Melissa going through so many changes, I would hate for this to be an unnecessary stressor. And I would hate to keep it from her until she’s more stable, only for her to be angry that she wasn’t informed sooner.”

Not for the first time, Pippa is overwhelmed by the care Hecate Hardbroom demonstrates in everything she does. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

“Ultimately, it’s your decision, Pippa, yours and Melissa’s. She’s your daughter, and I trust you to know what’s best for her.”

Eyes shining, Pippa dances her fingers over Hecate’s cheek and pulls her in for another kiss.

* * *

Dimity Drill is almost as ecstatic to see the evidence of a blossoming romance between Hecate and Pippa as she is to see her girlfriend that night. Sure, it’s been a year, and perhaps she should have gotten over Hecate’s comments about her choice to ask Julie out on Parents’ Night, of all times, but Dimity never gives up a chance to annoy her coworker. And this is the perfect opportunity, she thinks, taking in the rushed application of Hecate’s lipstick and the red lingering on Pippa’s lips, Pippa and Melissa Pentangle’s expressions as, presumably, Pippa explains recent developments in her relationship with Hecate to her daughter. Melissa seems to be taking it remarkably well, Dimity observes, even if she seems a little disinterested, and she knows that with friends like Mildred Hubble, Melissa will turn out okay.

Hecate senses, rather than sees, the presence of a certain Dimity Drill behind her with a big cheeky grin plastered across her face. “So,” she says, altogether too cheerfully, “what was that you were saying last year about Parents’ Night not being the place for romance?”

“One more word,” grumbles Hecate through gritted teeth, “and I’ll hex you into next year.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! all comments rewarded with my eternal love and gratitude (including and especially criticism - help me grow as a writer!). if you want to come scream with me about anything tww or anything at all, i’m @firesofthestars on tumblr!


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